Special submarine devices using a novel integrated lift, propulsion and steering system

ABSTRACT

A submarine device having a hull which is substantially symmetrical about a horizontal plane of symmetry and vertical longitudinal and transverse planes of symmetry. An integrated lift, propulsion and steering system is provided for the submarine device and comprises four conventional cycloidal propeller mechanisms in an arrangement in which two are mounted at the front of the hull and two at the rear, the two at the front being rotatable about a common transverse horizontal axis disposed below the horizontal plane of symmetry whereas the two at the rear are rotatable about a common transverse axis disposed above the horizontal plane of symmetry of the hull. Four auxiliary screws, rotatable about horizontal axes, can be arranged in pairs on the horizontal and vertical planes of symmetry respectively, the auxiliary screws having reversible blades and being capable of turning to produce vertical thrust.

1 1 Feb. 11,1975

2,455,048 11/1948 Du 115/1 R NOVEL ENTEGRATED LIFT, PROPULSION 3,045,630 7/1962 F611 114/122 AND STEERING SYSTEM 3.356.055 12/1967 114/16 R 3,434,443 3/1969 Estabrook............................. 114/50 [76] Inventor: Paul Bastide, 108, rue de Rennes,

75006 Pans France Primary Examiner-Trygve M. Blix A 26, 1973 Assistant Examiner-Galen L. Barefoot Attorney, Agent, or FirmEric H. Waters Appl. No.: 354,791

Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT Apr. 26, 1972 72.14768 A Submarine device having a which is Substantially symmetrical about a horizontal plane of symme- 114/1 R 115/52 try and vertical longitudinal and transverse planes of 1m. C1. B63g 8/08, B63g 8/16 Symmetry An integrated lift. propulsion and steering n w f g 114/16 R, 1 F 164, [6.3, system is provided for the submarine device and com- 4 5 5 12 122; 6|/69 R, 9 prises four conventional cycloidal propeller mecha- 5 5 32 39 1 R nisms in an arrangement in which two are mounted at the front of the hull and two at the rear, the two at the References Cited front being rotatable about a common transverse hori- UNITED STATES PATENTS zontal axis disposed below the horizontal plane of symmetry whereas the two at the rear are rotatable ilnite Sates Patent astide 1 SPECIAL SUBMARINE DEVICES USING A [22] Filed:

' PATENTEUFEBI 1:915

sum 2 or 3 SPECIAL SUBMARINE DEVICES USING A NOVEL INTEGRATED LIFT, PROPULSION AND STEERING SYSTEM CROSS RELATED APPLICATION Copending application Ser. No. 346,797, filed Apr. 26, 1973.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a novel submarine device capable of utilization with improved prospect in important fields, especially oceanology, with increased safety.

More precisely, the invention is directed to an underwater device capable of executing all kinds of movements, some of which are impossible with a standard submarine, for example, rapid turning in place, translational movements perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline, rapid movements straight upward and downward, and the like. The submarine device has numerous components analogous to those of a standard, conventional submarine, such as a thick-section hull, watertight seal devices for the shafts of various apparatus where they emerge from the thick-section hull, diving ballast tanks, electrical storage batteries for naviation when submerged, compressed air and air conditioning installations. This submarine device, however, differs from a conventional submarine, particularly in the fact that instead of two lateral propellers it is either devoid of a central propeller or it has a single, central propeller and that it dispenses with the stabilizers i.e. the diving rudders as well as the four conventional horizontal-shaft aft rudders (one pair forward, one pair aft).

For these purposes, the submarine device according to the invention uses a novel integrated lift, propulsion and steering system composed of at least one horizontal-shaft cycloidal propeller with a flat circular crown rim with horizontal shaft, carrying at its periphery a circular array of identical horizontal blades, each rotatable around a shaft perpendicular to the rim, under the action of a connecting rod extending parallel to the plane of the rim, all of the connecting rods having a common control head which can be eccentric relative to the axis of rotation of the propeller.

According to another characteristic feature of the invention, the submarine device comprises four cycloidal propellers arranged for rotation about horizontal axes and grouped in twos (one pair forward and one pair aft).

According to a further characteristic feature of the invention, the two pairs of cycloidal propellers fore and aft are symmetrical relative to the center of symmetry of the device, the forward pair being below the horizontal axis of symmetry while the aft pair is above this axis, the two propellers of the same pair being coaxial and symmetrical relative to the longitudinal vertical plane of symmetry, all axes of rotation of the four propellers turning in the same direction as seen by an observer stationed laterally relative to the device.

According to a still further characteristic feature of the invention, the submarine device utilizes, in addition to the four cycloidal propellers, a system of four auxiliary screws with adjustable, reversible blades each having an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal vertical plane of symmetry xz, and suspended from suitably streamlined cross members inside four apertures, two

on the longitudinal horizontal axis of synmetry 0x (fore and aft) and two on the transverse vertical axis of symmetry 02 at the top and bottom of the submarine device, the two screws fore and aft each being capable of turning with the support therefor through an angle of and 0x axis under the action of two circular hydraulic jacks within the device, in order to make vertical (in upwards or downwards direction) the thrust of the two corresponding screws which can thus participate in the purely vertical displacement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Several embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a submarine device according to the invention wherein two pairs of lift propellers are provided for and aft and are staggered in height;

FIG. 2 is a plan view from above of the device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a submarine device according to FIGS. 1 and 2 but are provided with reversible-blade screws instead of conventional de vices;

FIG. 4 diagrammatically illustrates the forces capable of acting on the submarine device merely by the lifting propeller devices with which it is equipped, and optionally in addition with its conventional aft screw;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section through the control device for the connecting rods for rotation of the blades of each of the four porpeller devices; and

FIG. 6 diagrammatically illustrates the coupling of the submarine propeller device of FIG. 1, with a propeller-less inert submersible vessel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following description, the three conventional principal spatial coordinate axes will be employed, 0x being in the direction of forward movement of the submarine device horizontally, 0y the transverse horizontal axis, and 0z the vertical axis.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the submarine device comprises a main body 4 having a vertical longitudinal section (in the x02 plane) of oval shape flatter along the vertical axis Oz, and a horizontal longitudinal section (in the x0y plane) also oval but more tapered along the horizontal axis 0x. The point 0 is a general point of symmetry for the entire surface of body 4, i.e., this surface has three principal planes of symmetry: x0y, x02 and y0z. It follows, in particular, that for purely vertical displacement (which cannot be achieved by a conventional submarine) the flow of water around this surface, assumed for the time being to be linear and without appendage, is symmetrical about the 02 axis, and for horizontal displacement along axis 0x, the flow is symmetrical about the 0x axis.

The submarine device can be simultaneously propelled and, if need be, assisted in its normal lift (by means of side ballast tanks) by four identical cycloidal propellers distributed in pairs, one pair 5, 5 fore, the other pair 6, 6 aft, all of whose axes of rotation are perpendicular to the x0z plane. The pairs of propellers 5, 5'; and 6 and 6 are spaced as far as possible from each other in order to avoid any serious interaction, the two propellers in a particular pair being symmetrical relative to the general plane of symmetry.

These cycloidal propellers, sometimes called Voight-Schneider propellers, comprise a circular flat rim 1 carrying at its periphery a uniform circular array of identical blades 2, each rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the rim 1, under the operation of a jointed connecting rod (see FIG. 5) parallel to the plane of the said rim, all of said jointed connecting rods having a common control head which may be eccentric relative to the axis of rotation 3 of the propeller assem bly. When the position of the common control head of these jointed connecting rods is staggered under the action of a mechanical or hydraulic drive operated by the pilot, the total thrust p of the propeller always stays in one particular plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation 3 which is horizontal here, and its direction can turn at will through 360 in that plane.

Consequently, for the sake of simplification also, we shall designate by the term VSH device the cycloidal horizontal-shaft propeller which will be used in the submarine device.

The axis of rotation 3 common to the two propellers of the forward pair is so placed that the top of each of these two propellers is located a little below the plane xy; the axis of rotation 3 of the aft pair issymmetrical relative to the point 0 with that of the forward pair so that the bottom of each of the propellers of the aft pair is located slightly above the x0y plane. The object of this arrangement is to separate as sharply as possible the water flow regions around the two propellers fore and aft of each side, in order to obviate any interaction between these two propellers. For the same reason, this arrangement is completed on each side by the provision of a horizontal fin composed of respective sections 7, 8 located in the x0y plane. The fin has a length such that its opposite ends extend beyond the vertical planes respectively containing the axis of rotation 3 of the forward pair and the axis of rotation of the aft pair. The sections 7,8 of each fin are identically equal, the for ward section 7 being folded upward to assume a vertical position on vertical displacement of the submarine device, the aft section 8 then being folded vertically downward. The folded position of the sections at the time of vertical displacement is shown in dotted outline in FIG. 1. All the VSH devices 5, 6 and 6' rotate in the same direction as seen by an observer facing the submarine device on the 0y axis.

FIG. 4 shows the resolution of the thrusts p of each VSH device into horizontal thrust components p and into vertical thrust components p such that, (assuming the conventional rear screw is not operating) the horizontal resultant P 4 p balances the hydrodynamic reaction R and the vertical resultant P 4 p balances the apparent weight 71' of the submarine device (i.e. the difference between its actual weight and the buoyancy).

On vertical displacement of the submarine device, the four VSH devices are regulated so that their thrusts shall be at their maximum values p, equal among themselves, vertically upward, each applied on the axis 3 of the corresponding propeller, and they are added together to give the total thrust P= 4 p, vertically upward at the point 0.

Such total thrust P has the capability of appreciably exceeding the apparent weight 1r of the submarine device (acting vertical downward at the center of gravity G of the submarine device i.e. passing through 0) whereupon the submarine device will rise vertically.

This total vertical thrust P can also be directed downward with an intensity greater and opposite to the buoyancy (Archimedean thrust) whereupon the submarine device submerges vertically in the water.

This vertical resultant thrust P of the four VSH devices can also be made exactly equal to the apparent weight 11', whereupon the submarine device will remain at a given level in place.

The thrusts supplied by the four VSH devices can also effect horizontal displacement of the submarine device, in addition to the thrust supplied by the aft screw.

When held at a fixed level, the submarine device can be simply revolved around the vertical through its center of gravity G, i.e. the 02 axis, increasing and inclining toward the forward horizontal the thrusts of the two devices located opoosite the side toward which it is desired to turn the nose of the submarine device, and likewise regulating but inclined toward therear horizontal the thrusts of the two propellerslocated on the other side, which leads to the application on the submarine device of a pure torque around the vertical axis passing through the center of gravity G.

For steering the submarine device around each of the principal axes 0x, 0y, 02, the system of the four VSH devices can give great capability for handling through differentiation of the directions of the thrusts of each of the four VSH devices.

According to another embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 3, the torque around the 0x axis can be regulated by two screws 9 and 9 having rotatable, reversible blades, with transverse horizontal axes perpendicular to the 0z axis symmetrically related to 0, each screw being suspended with its electric driving motor inside a circular aperture by a suitably streamlined cross member (FIG. 3). The torque'around the 02 axis will likewise be regulable by two screws 10 and 10' with rotatable, reversible blades on transverse horizontal axes perpendicular to the 0x axis symmetrically related to 0, each screw being housed in fore and aft portions of the submarine device (FIG. 3).

This arrangement offers the following three advantages: first, by directing the equal transverse thrusts of the two fore and aft screws 10 and 10' in opposite directions from each other, a supplementary means becomes available for rotating the submarine device around its vertical axis of symmetry 0z; second, by directing the thrusts of the four screws 9, 9, l0 and 10 in the same direction, a means is provided (not furnished by any conventional submarine) for displacing the submarine device by simple translation along a transverse axis parallel to the 0y axis; finally, by providing that each of the fore and aft portions of the device, 11 and 11', can revolve through under the action of the a hydraulic circular jack around an axis coincident with the 0x axis, the axes of the two corresponding screws 10 and 10' can be made vertical allowing them also to be used in assisting rapid vertical displacement of the submarine device, upward or downward (a matter impossible of realization with a conventional submarine).

Of course, it is possible to make the steering and stabilization of the submarine device automatic, accordidng to conventional means, by controlling each of the devices which have just been described, for example, to control the angle which the real vertical (as determined by a gyroscope) makes with each of the spatial coordinate axes x, (ly and Oz.

The power required for operating the various motor devices described above (the conventional screws, the four VSH propellers, the four screws with rotatable blades) each having a respective driving motor (watertight motor for the engines of the four screws) is supplied in accordance with conventional arrangements for known submarines, namely: for surface navigation or with snorkel apparatus, a diesel engine driving a common electric generating set, and a common set of storage batteries for navigation when submerged.

FIG. diagrammatically illustrates the assembly of each VSH device, and therein can be seen an electric driving motor mounted inside the ballast tank wall and a generally known mechanism for controlling the tilt of the control head for the jointed connecting rods of each VSH device. This mechanism is composed of two hydraulic presses mounted at 90 from each other (of which only one is illustrated for purposes of clarity) and acting on the known device having three joints l2, l3 and 14, the middle joint 13 being fixed and the other two movable, the joint 14, controlling the position of jointed rod 15 in accordance with a well known principle of kinematics (with straight lever, jointed lever or actuating lever) said jointed rods being contained in the rim 1 and each acting on one blade 2.

The two presses l6 and 16' are fixed as is the middle joint 13 and they are physically fastened to the outside shell of the electric driving motor for the VSH propeller, the lever 17 controlling the movement of the third articulation joint 14 being housed inside the shaft 19 joining the'rotor of the electric motor to the rim of the VSH propeller, said shaft being hollow. Obviously, the adaptation of the horizontal-shaft VSH propellers is highly advantageous as compared to vertical-shaft propellers which were exclusively adopted heretofore.

in particular, with the horizontal-shaft VSH device, control of the orientation of the blades (while preserving the same principle of three swivel joints) is positive and much simpler than the current conventional control of the vertical-shaft devices used hitherto (which require for the control of the three swivel joint device a horizontal drive shaft from the motor, with a complicated and expensive device of bevel gear type to change the direction of the propeller driving shaft through 90 to make it vertical).

The electric driving motor for the VSH propeller, the two hydraulic presses 16 and 16, and also the device with three articulation joints 12, 13 and 14, are fastened to the inside wall 18 of a diving ballast tank, the hollow shaft 19 between the electric motor and the VSH device passing through said wall with a watertight joint 20. The above assembly is located inside a hollow cylinder 21, closed by the watertight port 22, and its walls are internally reinforced by a series of stiffeners 23 located at regular angular intervals.

To strengthen the attachment of the hollow cylinder 21 to the wall 18 of the ballast tank, the transverse bulkhead 24, appropriately cut away at 25 to allow opening of the watertight port 22, at the same time connects the thick shell of the hull to the wall 18 of the ballast tank and to the wall of the hollow cylinder 21.

Finally, FIG. 3 illustrates a retractable support means with four arms 26 arranged in sysmmetrical pairs relative to the x02 and y0z planes and so mounted that in the position of rest or for landing, the vertical through the center of gravity of the submarine device falls at the center of the rectangle determined by the four wheels 27. These wheels each rotate around a horizontal axis and are also capable of revolving about a vertical axis 28 so as to permit the submarine device to pivot in place on the ground.

Finally, the submarine device can be equipped at its lower middle portion on the 0z axis with a very sturdy hook 29 rotatable on an axis coincident with the 02 axis for carrying loads which can be considerable.

The novel types of submarine device according to the present invention provides at least four principal advantages as compared to contemporary conventional submarines:

First, they are much easier to handle, in particular with the possibilites in the water as on land, of rotation in place around their vertical axis of symmetry and of pure translation perpendicularly to their longitudinal plane of symmetry, whereas the handling of a conventional submarine requires the submarine to have a minimum forward speed so as to make useful operation of the controls (rudder and fore and aft diving planes);

- Second, they can have powerful means for quick absolutely vertical submersion and resurfacing (whereas conventional submarines can do this only stage by stage), by reason of the four lateral VSH propellers being able to impart a powerful thrust for rapid vertical submersion and rapid vertical resurfacing;

They can also, all things being equal, lift and carry under water and deposit on the sea bottom and on ground substantially greater weights because of the capability of strong upward and downward thrusts produced by the four VSH devices;

Finally, even if for any reason at all the buoyancy, properly so called, of the submarine device according to the present invention becomes negative, it can to a very great extent be counterbalanced by the considerable vertical upward thrust which can be furnished by the four VSH devices, whereas in such circumstance, all things otherwise being equal, a conventional type submarine would only have much less efficacious means for saving itself.

By reason of the aforementioned advantages, submarine devices in accordance with the invention allow various submarine operations to be effected, especially as principal adjuncts to oceanological tasks, below the water surface, on the ocean bottom and on land, especially As inspection and repair vessels for immersed hulls and bottoms of large surface ships, as mobile hoisting platforms for safe submersion, lifting and movement of even heavy loads which will be required for alltasks in ocean depths and on ground, and as taxis and trucks to ensure quick vertical shuttling of personnel and material between the surface and the ocean bottom, this being effected with ease and with greater safety than can be obtained with conventional type submarines or any other submarine currently known.

Finally, the present invention contemplates that a four-VSH propeller submarine device of the type shown in FIG. 1 can be coupled to an inert underwater craft equipped with ballast tanks capable, when empty, of lifting the device with its whole load, the inner hull of such craft being, either of the open type (cross section of FIG. 6) for the conveyance of various solid materials or of the closed type such as the thick hull of a standard submarine, this latter being used for the conveyance of a liquid load (oil, for example).

The linking of inert underwater craft with the propeller device is effected as shown in FIG. 6 by lateral and transverse hooks 30 driven by hydraulic jacks for rapid operation.

What is claimed is:

l. A submarine device capable of perpendicular translation relative to its longitudinal axis inclusive of purely upward and downward movements using an integrated system of lift, propulsion and steering, said submarine device comprising a hull with a center of symmetry, said integrated system comprising four cycloidal propellers grouped in two pairs, one pair being forward on said hull and one pair aft on said hull, each cycloidal propeller having a horizontal axis of rotation and including a flat circular rim carrying at its periphery a circular array of identical horizontal blades each rotatable about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the said rim, means for rotating the blades about their axes including a joint connecting rod for each blade extending parallel to the plane of said rim, and a master control head coupled to said rods and capable of being staggered relative to the axis of rotation of said propeller, said two pairs of cycloidal propellers being symmetrically arranged relative to said center of symmetry of the hull, the two propellers of each pair being coaxial and symmetrical relative to the longitudinal vertical plane of symmetry of the hull, the directions of rotation of the propellers on eachside of the hull being in the same directions, the two propellers on each side being longitudinally spaced from each other to minimize interaction of one with the other, the forward pair being lowered below the horizontal plane of symmetry, and aft pair being raised above said plane, horizontal fins extending longitudinally in the horizontal plane of symmetry at each side between the forward and rear propellers on such side, and means for folding said fins into vertical positions for purely vertical displacement of the device.

2. A submarine device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hull is of oval shape, flattened along the longitudinal axis in the vertical plane of symmetry and more tapered in the horizontal plane of symmetry.

3. A submarine device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the four propellers can be regulated to provide four vertical thrusts all equal and in the same direction for purely vertical displacement of the submarine device and four equal thrusts all in the same direction with horizontal components for horizontal displacement. 

1. A submarine device capable of perpendicular translation relative to its longitudinal axis inclusive of purely upward and downward movements using an integrated system of lift, propulsion and steering, said submarine device comprising a hull with a center of symmetry, said integrated system comprising four cycloidal propellers grouped in two pairs, one pair being forward on said hull and one pair aft on said hull, each cycloidal propeller having a horizontal axis of rotation and including a flat circular rim carrying at its periphery a circular array of identical horizontal blades each rotatable about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the said rim, means for rotating the blades about their axes including a joint connecting rod for each blade extending parallel to the plane of said rim, and a master control head coupled to said rods and capable of being staggered relative to the axis of rotation of said propeller, said two pairs of cycloidal propellers being symmetrically arranged relative to said center of symmetry of the hull, the two Propellers of each pair being coaxial and symmetrical relative to the longitudinal vertical plane of symmetry of the hull, the directions of rotation of the propellers on each side of the hull being in the same directions, the two propellers on each side being longitudinally spaced from each other to minimize interaction of one with the other, the forward pair being lowered below the horizontal plane of symmetry, and aft pair being raised above said plane, horizontal fins extending longitudinally in the horizontal plane of symmetry at each side between the forward and rear propellers on such side, and means for folding said fins into vertical positions for purely vertical displacement of the device.
 2. A submarine device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hull is of oval shape, flattened along the longitudinal axis in the vertical plane of symmetry and more tapered in the horizontal plane of symmetry.
 3. A submarine device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the four propellers can be regulated to provide four vertical thrusts all equal and in the same direction for purely vertical displacement of the submarine device and four equal thrusts all in the same direction with horizontal components for horizontal displacement. 